4 Creative Ways to Use Social Media to Promote your Business

Social media is a powerful tool to promote your business. In the UK, 39 million  people are on social media and the numbers are only expected to grow over time! But given the staggering number of users, businesses must be smart about using social media to cut through some of the noise and the competition. When done right, social media campaigns can be cost-effective, fun and high impact. In this post, we highlight four creative ways that your business can tap into the power of social media to build your brand.

1. Host a giveaway!

One thing we know well is that people love freebies! For your next social media campaign, consider using cost-effective giveaway items to encourage people to participate. This could include customised items like enamel pins, handy keyrings or badges.

Button badges in particular are a great choice as they can be produced quickly and at minimal cost; they’re also popular among a wide range of people. Buttons raise awareness because they get noticed. Many people collect them and wear them on coats, hats, backpacks or laptop bags. To help your badge stand out from the rest, consider a creative, eye-catching design and experiment with features like LED lights or size, such as oversized or mini-buttons.

One clever idea for a giveaway campaign on social media is a “Like to Win” contest, in which you ask people to like or comment on your page. This is a great way to get those precious first few followers.  If you have the budget for it, you could give away a prize for every new interaction, or you could pool all comments together and do a daily or weekly drawing to pick a winner. Be sure to announce and thank the winner in a social media post!

A savvy social media campaign can be effective no matter the size of your business, from an independent shop to a large corporate. Here’s a fun example from Luna Lee Crafts, which asked people on Facebook to like, share and tag a friend for a chance to win this lovely enamel unicorn pin.

2. Encourage engagement.

A social media campaign is a great way to connect with and engage your fans. In the past, you may have been limited to in-person interactions at a retail or office location. But today, social media allows you to connect with customers around the globe in real-time. Ask people to follow or share your post in exchange for a giveaway like a badge or keyring. This will help you quickly, and cost-effectively, expand your reach and grow your audience.  

A great way to encourage engagement is with user-generated content. Ask your network to share a story about your product or service or to post a photo of them in your store. This type of customer-generated content is real and authentic and thus can be quite valuable for your business. Apple, for example, ran a campaign on Instagram to showcase the iPhone’s camera features. It asked people to post iPhone photos with the hashtag #ShotOniPhone.

3. Hashtag contest.

The Apple #ShotOniPhone campaign is a nice segue into our next tip, which is to pick the right hashtag. Social media revolves around the use of hashtags to search and aggregate content. Pick a unique, fun and short hashtag for your campaign and use it to start a conversation, interact with your fans and promote your brand. Consider creating custom badges that feature the hashtag to help spread the word on and offline for maximum reach!

Another example is the #GoParksLondon campaign, from a team of charitable organisations. The campaign asked people to explore a new park during a specific week and post a photo with the hashtag on social media.

4. Partner up.

To expand your reach, consider partnering up with a like-minded business that shares your target audience. Plan a giveaway item that helps promote both of your brands while expanding your joint audience. This could also be collaborating with a respected charity in your industry on a special enamel pin badge for a shared contest. Your business will benefit from the positive public relations and the charity will benefit from the increased fundraising exposure.

For example, Adidas teamed up in 2018 with a charitable organisation called Parley of the Ocean on a global campaign for marine awareness. Adidas developed a shoe that was made from plastic that had been removed from the ocean. It promoted the partnership on YouTube and other social media channels.

Another tip is to get creative with your giveaways! In addition to proven favourites like badges and keyrings, consider fun items like clothing, cufflinks and water bottles. The Protein Ball Company, which makes handmade healthy snacks in the UK, recently ran a giveaway campaign on Instagram for a participant and a friend to win two water bottles along with some of their treats.

Note: When developing your next killer social media campaign, be sure to check the platform’s rules and guidelines around contests before you get started. Facebook, for example, updates its content rules periodically.

The best thing about a social media campaign is that it can truly be anything you want it to be! Consider a range of fun campaigns throughout the year, like a photo caption contest, a customer of the week contest, a trivia quiz or ask your network to vote on a new product or participate in a poll. All of these ideas are made better and more memorable with some great giveaways or prizes like badges and keyrings. What have been some of your favourite social media contests? We’d love to hear more and help you create some winning merchandise for your next killer social media campaign!